Shattered
by WhatTheF-ckHaveYouDoneLately
Summary: After Jasper is killed, Alice agrees to help Damon find the woman he loves. Little does she know she helping the murderer of her soulmate. But the mission is dangerous. And Alice and Damon begin to form a dangerous bond that could tear Damon in two.
1. Prologue

"**Jasper! Alice! Get down here **_**now**_**." Edward yelled, the last word coming out as a snarl.**

**They exchanged a look and worry flooded through them. **

**It had to be about Bella. That was the only thing that could be making Edward this angry. **

**Was it something that they had done, her and Jasper?**

**Rose and Emmet were away again and Carlisle and Esme were hunting. So Jasper, Alice and Edward were alone in the Cullen house.**

**Alice, for the life of her, could not think of anything they'd done that would upset him this much.**

**Bella was supposed to be coming over, and now that she thought about it, she was about an hour late.**

**Alice ran downstairs to the living room with Jasper on her heels.**

"**Edward? What's wrong?" Alice asked, concern ringing in her wind chime voice. **

**She was sure that her husband's expression was a mirror of her own - **

**one of worry and confusion.**

"**Bella isn't here, and she isn't answering the phone I got here." He said, referring to the top of the line cell phone he'd gotten her.**

**Alice immediately started reassuring him that she should be here anytime and that she was probably fine, but he ignored her.**

**Jasper ran a hand through his blond hair and Alice watched her brother pace around the room.**

"**How about we go look for her?" She said, walking over to Edward and placing one delicate, pale hand on his arm.**

**He shrugged her off and placed his hands on the window sill, looking out.**

"**You stay, Alice." Jasper said gently, concern for his soul mate weaving through his soft voice.**

"**No, I can help. Sure, I can't just ask for a vision, but I can try to keep a little bit of a mental scan going." She insisted, turning to face Jasper, who was still standing on the stairs. **

"**Alice," He lowered his voice to a quiet murmur as he pulled her to him on the stairs, leaning close to her ear. "I can't let whatever got Bella get you." He said, the brutal honesty very uncharacteristic to his usual warm-and-fuzzy personality.**

"'**Got Bella'? You think another vampire… 'got' her?" She asked in an equally soft voice.**

**He only nodded.**

**Edward was too stressed to pay attention to their words.**

"**Alice, you will **_**stay**_**." Edward said, packing as much brotherly authority into the last word as possible.**

"**But Edward-"**

"**No Alice!" He cut her off, spinning to face her.**

**Slightly hurt, she only nodded.**

"**Good." He said, turning now to face Jasper.**

**The two of the had a hushed conversation that she could have listened to if she'd have wanted to, but she chose instead to tune it out and slip into the kitchen.**

"**Alice, we're leaving." Jasper said, coming to her in the kitchen. He put his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze.**

"_**Please**_** be careful." She whispered, worry tightening her throat.**

"**I will."**

"**So will I." Edward said, stepping into the kitchen to join them.**

**Alice gave him a tight squeeze and then brushed her lips with Jasper's before they left.**

**After they were out the door and Alice had counted to five (most people count to sixty - but we are talking about vampires here) and followed them out the door.**

**Of course, they were already gone, but she followed their scent.**

**She followed in silence, eventually coming to an alleyway. She saw Jasper's silhouette at the other end. He was holding a limp figure in his arms - Bella, she assumed - and another figure that wasn't Edward was facing him. **

**Though a few moments later, Edward appeared and took Bella.**

**She saw Jasper attack the vampire that had been feeding off of Bella, unleashing his fury with a powerful blow.**

**Alice slid behind a stack of wooden crates and crouched there has Edward came up the alleyway and walked past her. **

**Even though she was not an extremely religious person, she silently prayed he wouldn't smell her. To her great relief, he walked right past the stack of crates and disappeared in a blur of movement.**

**She then stood up and prepared to help Jasper, because she assumed the other vampire would be stronger due to his obvious diet of human blood.**

**What she saw shattered her heart, her world, her entire sense of being.**


	2. Chapter 1 All Is Lost, Hope Remains

Damon Salvatore lifted his head from the neck of the brunette girl he'd been feeding off of. Hmm, she'd said her name. What was it? It started with a "B," he knew that much. Bree… Belle… Bella! That was it!

Well, he thought to himself, it didn't matter what her name was, she sure was tasty. He smiled to himself and pulled her off his lap. She was limp, which meant he'd been feeding longer than he realized. Oh well.

The footsteps he'd heard sounded close, and he didn't like being bothered.

_C'mon, I drag the chick into an _alleyway_ and I can't get any privacy?_ He thought to himself bitterly.

Yep, they were coming towards him. He stood up and pulled the girl with him. She was seventeen or eighteen or something. Not especially pretty; brown hair, brown eyes, pale enough to pass for a vampire. Nah, not special. No Bonnie, with her red curls and large brown eyes that seemed to have little lights under them.

And she was definitely, not even remotely _close _to - it hurt him to even think her name - Elena.

Yes, Elena, who had run off with his worthless younger brother. His squirrel-eating, self righteous, Elena-stealing, brother. Ugh, if he eats any more bunnies he's going to turn into one, he thought to himself.

He actually had a rare moment of enjoyment induced by that mental image: Stefan, sprouting white bunny ears and a little fuzzy cotton tail, with his signature brooding forehead to top it all off.

Then the pain hit, just like always. The pain over Elena. The girl that abandoned him and left him one cryptic-ass little note. A note! _That girl has got_ nerve, his mind told him angrily. I already knew that, mind, he thought, dropping Bella to the ground.

A figure appeared at the other end of the alley, silhouetted against the lights of the sidewalk.

"Bella!" The figure yelled.

_Yes, that's her name. Would you like a bite? _Damon sent to the vampire's mind.

A sweep of Power told him that he was both a male and a vampire. And he saw another person in the vampire's mind, a pixie-like girl with dark, spiky hair and a wispy figure. But the delicate features and frame was a mask for her true nature. She was a vampire. He searched deeper into the vampire's mind, looking for details on her. Something about her… intrigued him. There was something under the surface, something powerful.

He felt a thick, powerful fury radiate from the vampire at his offer to share the girl.

Probing deeper, he saw the he knew the girl, Bella, somehow, but he didn't bother finding out how they knew each other.

The fury exploded into pure, undiluted rage and Damon had just stepped out of the way when a wooden stake, undoubtedly meant for him, hit the wall that Damon had just been standing in front of with extraordinary strength.

He could tell by his scent that this vampire fed from animals, like Stefan. Oh lovely.

In a blur of movement Damon had the stake meant for him in his hand, ready to stake the vampire. Bella, who had apparently come to, scrambled to her feet and ran towards the end of the alleyway for all it was worth.

He rolled his eyes as he tightened his grip on the stake. _Humans, they're so fragile,_ he thought to himself.

Unaware of the stake in his left hand, the other vampire, the ticked off Stefan-y one, tried to throw him against a wall. As he grasped Damon by the shoulders and shoved with one more strength than he figured for.

Nonetheless, he was still stronger, and easily twisted so that the other vampire went into the wall.

Then he slid the stake through the vampire's heart, hearing a satisfying _thump_ as the stake hit the wall behind the vampire's back.

"Jasper?!" Cried a high, feminine voice from the end of the alley the vampire, Jasper apparently, had come from. A thin framed girl was silhouetted against the end of the alley, a frame that he recognized from Jasper's thoughts.

Oh what was her name? He'd seen the thought formed in the now dead vampire's head.

_Alice_.

That was it!

Just then the force of small, but strong vampire crashed into him in the darkness of the alley. The vampire, Alice, yanked him around so that his chest was bared to her, practically begging to be staked. They both saw the wooden chair at the same time. He couldn't get to it without running the risk of her having a stake under her coat, and she couldn't run the risk of him escaping.

That was when he heard the footsteps.

The telepathic abilities told him they were hunting the physic. Oh, Alice is physic. He could use her to help him find Elena. Which meant he had to keep her safe. He caught her by surprise by pulling her up and onto a roof. The roof of the building that's wall made up one half of the alleyway they'd just been in. A rush of vile thoughts hit him from the leader of the "search party." They wanted to lock her up and use her abilities until she was too weak to have them anymore, then they would see how long they could keep her alive without blood in her system. Like she was a lab rat.

He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Don't scream."

"Not likely!" She screeched, kicking and scratching.

Not that it mattered, he had a death grip on her. He was stronger.

He showed her what the five vampires below were thinking about doing with her. She stiffened and let out a little yelp.

"Go home, pack, _run_." He said, still whispering, having every intention of following her. They were in such total darkness that she could no way identify him when he sought her out. Hell, it was so dark _he_ could barely see.

With such suddenness it startled even him, she brought both elbows back and down, hitting him between the legs with enough force to knock him flat. Which it did. His back made contact with the roof before he could even contemplate what had happened. He heard her say something to his mind, a clear, loud threat.

_This is not over. I will kill you._

Alice ran with all the strength in her body. Which was a lot. The stronger male vampire was probably still recovering from shock. Okay, so she had to kill him to avenge Jasper's death, run from vampires that wanted to use her as a vision-having lab rat, and try not to break down while fighting for survival(more or less.)

This was going to be a long night.

She tried to memorize as many features as possible about the vampire that killed her love. Medium height, lithe build, red eyes that almost glowed in the dark, and something shining on his hand.

She at last found herself at home, throwing herself into her brother's arms. Edward of course being a mind reader had already seen what happened and was mentally grieving heavily.

They didn't say anything for a long time.

The funeral was a dark blur for the Cullen family.

Alice had Bella and Edward on one side of her, to her left, and Esme and Carlisle on her other side, to her right.

All of it took on a dreamlike, or better yet, nightmare like, quality.

If Alice had the ability to sleep, maybe she could have convinced herself that she would wake up from this. That she would pinch herself and then she would wake to find herself next to a peacefully sleeping Jasper.

The vampire that killed him would die _slowly_, she thought to herself. She gave a mental start: what was she thinking? She, for the most part, was not a "kill slowly" type of person

She glanced up at the one single crow perched in a branch several feet away. Its eyes were so… human. But she knew better than that, crows weren't human. But she was thoroughly unnerved.

It was looking straight at her.

"_All this time spent in vain, wasted years, wasted gain. All is lost hope remains, and this war's not over."_

~Trading Yesterday


	3. Chapter 2 Do You Bleed For The Fantasy?

Three weeks had passed since Jasper had been killed.

Alice hadn't even had it in her to run like she probably should have. She couldn't deny that the thoughts she'd been shown were real. Those vampires were after her.

Yet here she was, sitting on the railing of the porch in font of the very house she and her love had lived in together only twenty three days ago. She kept count, thinking maybe when she hit some magic number the pain would stop. But deep down she knew the truth. She would never heal.

She gazed up at the crow perched in the branches a few yards from the porch. Not knowing why, she shakily held out her hand. It flew from the branches and landed softly on her hand, not even scratching her with it's talons. She gasped, and just knew it would fly away. It didn't.

Then, as if to complete the unbelievable moment, the clouds parted and the sun made her skin light up with the beautiful sparkles that, even all this time later, seemed surreal to her. Knowing it would fly away when she did, she reached out as if to stroke the silky feathers. It let her. This just wasn't _real._

Yet there she was, stroking the beautiful feathers that seemed to have rainbows in them when the sun hit them.

She didn't know how much time passed with her stroking the bird, her skin sparkling in the morning light.

Suddenly an image flashed before her eyes: Her stroking the hair of a strikingly beautiful young man with hair that was not unlike the crow's. The same place, the same exact scenario. He turned his head to the sun and the light caught his pale, flawless skin, making it sparkle just like hers was doing. It was beautiful and dreamlike - Alice Cullen, so pretty with her molten topaz eyes and her spiky dark hair, and the young man she knew nothing about with his silken black hair and eyes that seemed to be all pupil, with an iris so black it looked endless - leaning against the railing, their skin alight with a million sunlit stars, her stroking his hair affectionately.

Just as abruptly as it had appeared, it was gone.

Alice blinked several times and looked down at her hand.

The crow was gone.

God she was beautiful.

Damon had flown from her hand when he'd seen her gaze go unfocused. How did he explain what had just happened?

He'd been watching her from a safe distance, but she'd looked over and seen him perched in the branches. Then she'd held out her hand, thinking a perfectly normal bird would just fly over and land on her outstretched fingers. A normal bird wouldn't. Damon would. She'd looked down at him in wonder before reaching out and beginning to stroke his feathers. He let her. Then the clouds parted, something not of his doing, and her skin began to sparkle. If she was beautiful before, this made her look… unbelievable. He lost track of time as she moved her delicate fingers down his back, applying the slightest pressure.

That was when her gaze went unfocused and her fingers froze. He'd flown from her and hand and flown around her, turning human. Just then her knees gave out under her. She would've fallen from the railing had he not reached out and caught her. She was light as a feather. Cradled effortlessly in his arms, she gazed up at him with beautiful gold eyes signifying she fed from animals. But amazingly, he couldn't bring himself to compare her with Stefan.

She looked like she was trying to fight screaming.

"T-Thank you." She stammered, her eyes wide.

He gently sat her on her feet, keeping his hands on her arms to keep her steady. Suddenly she looked terrified. Then it clicked for Damon why. She was _sparkling_, something pretty hard to explain to an ordinary human. But again, he was no human.

"Who… are you?" She whispered, still paralyzed with fear.

"I'm Damon."

"_Do you live, do you die, do you bleed, for the fantasy? In your mind, through your eyes, do you see? It's the fantasy."_

~3o Seconds to Mars


	4. Chapter 3 I Stare at the Sun

Alice gazed up at him. Damon. Or, to Alice, fantasy/dream/nightmare boy. She still couldn't decide which of the three to classify the mental image under. Yet here he was, sitting her on her feet and holding on to her arms so that she wouldn't fall.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we know each other." She said, straightening her back so that she didn't appear helpless.

"No, we don't. Not yet." He said, releasing her arms. He moved to hoist himself up onto the porch railing like she'd been sitting before she'd fallen.

"Oh, no, do please come in." She said quickly, walking over to the door. Though she couldn't help but be bothered by the fact they were alone. Emmet and Rose had left again, too pained by the constant reminder that their brother had just lived in the house they were living in and was now empty of him. Edward had taken Bella to the meadow, probably to try to soothe her pain just as she would try to soothe his. And Carlisle and Esme were hunting, seeing as they hadn't fed for awhile before Jasper had been killed. Alice had simply wanted to be alone, free to try to erase the image of that stake going through him with happy memories of him, such as their first meeting or any one of the thousands of loving looks he had reserved only for her.

"Thank you." He said, crossing the threshold after her and closing the door behind them.

"And don't worry, your secret is safe with me." He added to Alice's half confusion, half relief. She still didn't know him and therefore didn't yet trust him, in spite of the seemingly friendly demeanor.

"What secret is that?" She asked for good measure, making sure he wasn't just saying that to get her to confess her "secret."

Like for example, she wasn't going to just come out and say, "Oh the fact I'm a vampire? Thanks, what a relief!"

But he calmly answered her, "Your vampirism."

"Ah, okay…" Her voice trailed off at the directness. She had not seen this coming.

"I'm one myself, actually." He said, turning to face her in the living room.

Alice only nodded and sat down, motioning for him to do the same. He said next to her on one of the pristine white couches, glancing over at her, meeting her eyes.

"May I ask, um, can I help you with something?" She asked nervously.

"Yes, that's why I'm here. Because of your abilities." He said, pulling something from his pocket.

"What? Would you like me to tell you the upcoming trends in the stock market?" She laughed.

"Well, it is a _lot_ to ask, but I need your help finding someone. I would need you to come with me, to help me by telling me where she is. Where she's going…" His voice trailed off as he picked up what he'd pulled from his pocket and holding it up to the light. The light caught a stunning lapis lazuli, highlighting the flecks of gold in the stone, which was set in a gorgeous pale gold necklace. The chain was wound around his index finger and the stone hung free, swaying slightly.

"If she's okay." He said in a husky voice, like it was hard to say the words. Then Alice realized this wasn't some psycho vampire that wanted to use her as a lab rat, this was a young, heartbroken man that wanted to know his love was safe. Her heart melted immediately.

"I'll help you." She said, meeting his eyes evenly.

He stood, pacing slightly. He then turned and stood in front of her, looking down into her eyes.

"Can I trust you?"

He had to know, he had to know honestly.

So he looked down at her and voiced the four words he'd been thinking since he'd first seen her. He'd come to Forks to talk to a vampire that had been in town investigating strange abilities. Probably the abilities of the Cullens. So right here, right now, he met her eyes.

She got to her feet and closed the foot distance between them, leaving about an inch apart.

"Yes." She said it with such assuredness, so firmly, he had no choice but to believe her. Her chin was lifted, her back was straight, and she met his gaze with no problem. She was being honest.

"Thank you, Alice." He said, unhooking the clasp of the necklace. She nodded and turned away. But he reached for her wrist to stop her. She looked back up into his eyes. He pulled on her wrist bringing her back where she'd been, about an inch from him.

He reached around her neck and clasped the necklace and straightened it until it was the stone was centered. She lifted her eyebrows, the universal sign of "WTF."

"What, you think we can go cross country with you sparkling? I don't think so." He smiled, releasing her wrist.

"What good is this doing? Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful." She said, holding up the lapis. He absently realized that her eyes matched the flecks of gold in the stone.

In answer, he turned and motioned for her to follow him back out the door. She complied, and they were soon standing on the porch. He threw his arms out, letting his skin catch the light. His skin remained normal, without sparkling.

"Lapis lazuli. It protects vampires from sparkling. Thank God. I don't think I could stand… sparkling." He fake shuddered.

She laughed softly, walking into the light, and for the first time since becoming a vampire, the light hit her skin and she looked … human.

"How long will we be gone?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

"Oh. Never mind, I already know that." She laughed.

Damon looked at her and couldn't help but laugh with her. Her laughter was soft and trilling and she looked like a little portrait.

"Well, I have to pack, Damon." She said, stopping at the door to look over her shoulder.

"No kidding." He replied, his lips curling up at one side.

She narrowed her eyes, but the part playful smile ruined any chance of her actually looking angry.

"So, Oh Mighty Physic One, when am I coming back to pick you up for our trip?"

She smiled and tilted her head, as if thinking hard. Then, having entirely too much fun, her grin deepened.

"That's for me to know, and for you to… dot, dot, dot."

"_Don't need my health, got my name and got my wealth. I stare at the sun just for kicks all by myself."_

~OneRepublic


	5. Chapter 4 Those I Lost Along the Way

Alice threw things at random into her suitcase, flying around her room at vampire speed. She wanted to leave with Damon before Everyone got home. She had already predicted her success, but she still didn't want to push it.

Hmm, she saw herself needed all sorts of clothes. So she packed several dresses, jeans, skirts, cotton tee shirts, blouses, and every variation of clothing that would fit in her suitcases.

Turning on the radio, she realized that Edward would never understand her wanting to help the vampire. He was heartbroken just like she was, and if she could help him then she was going to. She switched stations on the radio, trying to find something that didn't scream like the singer was in pain. She was just going to turn it off when something came on that sounded promising. She didn't recognize it, but the lyrics didn't scream and the background music was played on a piano. She listened closely to the lyrics.

_When will we see the end of the days, _

_We bleed, for what we need? _

_To forgive, forget, move on. _

_Cause' we've got_

_One life to love, one love to give, one chance to keep from falling…_

Only the sound of a car pulling up jolted Alice off of the suitcase she'd been sitting on, listening to the music. She grabbed her suitcases, turned off the radio, and in a blur was out the door. She thought about the note she'd left Edward.

_Edward,_

_I'm leaving town for a little while to be alone. I'd like some space to think about everything, about Jasper. I don't know when I'll be back, but don't worry about me. I'm fine. I'm not sure where I'll go, but I'll be back soon, I promise._

_All the love in the world,_

_Alice_

The more she thought, the more believable the note sounded.

Suddenly her bags were out of her hands. She looked up at Damon who was shoving them in the trunk of very nice pale blue GTO with a black convertible top.

"Nice car." She said, helping him push the suitcases further into the trunk.

" Thanks. How long will we be gone?" He asked, closing the trunk and hoisting himself onto the closed trunk. She sighed and hopped up beside him.

"We don't know yet, it's hard to tell with all the conflicting paths." She said, brushing her hair out of her face.

His face was question mark.

"When people keep changing their minds, it makes the future harder to read." She said, shrugging.

"Huh. Well, anyways, let's get going. You have everything you need?" He asked, glancing up from where he'd opened the passenger side door for her.

"Yep." She confirmed happily, getting in the car.

In a blur, he was in the driver's seat next to her, backing out of the driveway.

"Where to first, Physic One?" He asked, turning to look at her.

In answer, she closed her eyes. Images flashed before them rapidly.

"What does Elena look like?"

"Straight brown hair that comes to the middle of her back, brown eyes… very pretty." He said, content to lose himself in the image of her.

"I see her - them, I mean - talking to a woman. Owns a bar. Early thirties.. I think. Tall, African American, short curly black hair, named-"

"Bree!"

Ah Hell.

Why had Alice just told him Stefan and Elena were going to talk to his very dead former flame? Hell, he'd killed her himself! Torn her heart out! She'd been the one to call that boyfriend of Lexi's, who'd almost killed him! She'd had her death coming. Elena didn't know he'd killed her, though. That would stand reason for her to seek her out…

Only Alice's voice brought him back to reality.

"Yes. Her name is Bree. And she's a vampire."

"_It's hopeless, the end will come and wash it all away. Forsaken, I live for those I lost along the way. And I can't remember how it all began to break. I suffer, I live to fight and die another day."_

~Breaking Benjamin


	6. Chapter 5 Give All My Secrets Away

Damon looked shocked.

He obviously knew Bree, somehow. Ex girlfriend, Alice assumed. His face was, for the second time since they'd left the house, a question mark.

"You okay?" She asked, turning to study him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The name rings a bell is all." He shrugged, looking cool and calm and collected.

"Okay then." She agreed hesitantly, not at all believing him.

"Alright. I guess it's time to pay Miss Bree a visit." He said, reaching for the radio.

Alice nodded, studying the radio. She thought hard, but she couldn't remember the name of the song she'd been listening to. Then she remembered that she hadn't heard the name.

He fiddled with the dial on the radio and finally settled on Everybody Loves Me by some band she wasn't familiar with. Alice laughed softly when he began singing along.

He turned it down for a moment, turning to Alice.

"So Bree is in Georgia at her bar, right?"

"Yep. A little place just outside Atlanta." She nodded.

He turned the music back up. Minutes later, Attack by 30 Seconds to Mars came on, and Alice's eyebrows shot up. She reached for the dial and turned to Damon.

"Mind if I turn this?"

"Nah, but good luck finding anything else." He laughed.

Seconds later, You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift was playing in his car. She was smiling triumphantly. He fought hysterical laughing as he recalled a conversation between him and Stefan.

"Girls just can't resist my good looks, my charm, my style, and my unflinching ability to listen to… Taylor Swift." He'd told Stefan.

Here he was with his unflinching ability. He didn't realize it was CD until the third song was on and that little blond chick was still howling at him through the speakers. He had a strong desire to bang his head against the steering wheel.

So much for unflinching.

About half way there, they stopped at a hotel, seeing as when they'd started they'd practically been across the country from Georgia. He grabbed the luggage and held the door open for Alice with his foot. S he smiled her thanks and walked into the lobby of thoroughly expensive hotel.

"Ah, this is a bit extravagant, don't you think?" She asked, taking two of the cases from him, in spite of his protests.

"I'm a vampire, too, you know." She whispered so low that only vampire hearing could pick it up.

"Yeah, well." He mumbled, walking up to the desk.

A few minutes later, they were seating at the four star restaurant inside their hotel.

"I would have been happy with McDonalds." Alice laughed as she looked at the menu. Well, I guess when you travel with a Salvatore, you travel in style, she thought to herself. As a matter of fact, she couldn't picture Damon anywhere _but_ somewhere like here.

"Speak for yourself." He said, laughing softly, handing her one of the two menus the waiter had brought.

She just shook her head and they continued talking and laughing and exchanging good-natured banter. She was surprised to find that they got along so well. Got along excellent, really.

"So, you didn't think to-" she lowered her voice and leaned forward- "feed before we hit the road?" She asked, studying his dark, almost black eyes. She couldn't tell if they were red or gold.

Probably red, she decided, based on his cocky demeanor and the way his eyes studied the waitresses. He didn't look at them the way most men did, either. No, he looked at their veins, their necks, the way they moved.

Singling out prey, she concluded as she leaned forward to answer her.

"I'll take care of that now that we're stopped for a night." He murmured quietly, leaning back as the waiter approached. Alice mirrored him and they both ordered steak.

"How would you like your steak, Miss?" He asked in a slight British accent.

"Not cooked." She chimed, smiling.

His eyebrows shot up, practically into his hair.

"Rare. She means very rare. Same for me, please." Damon said with a charming smile.

"Yes, sir." He said, walking away.

Alice could only assume he knew better than to question his very rich client.

"So Damon, tell me about yourself."

"Well, I was born in a town called Mystic Falls and lived there with my brother until I was twenty. Then we went our separate ways after we were turned. That was in 1864. I wandered around for about a century and a half. Then I came back home and met Elena. She isn't the original reason I came home, though. Anyways, she and my brother, Stefan, started dating. Elena couldn't stand me at first. Hated me, I guess. But after awhile, we started becoming… friends, I suppose. It wasn't like that for me. After a little while, after I realized she wasn't who I thought she was - as a person, I mean - I realized that…" His voice trailed off and he looked broken and vulnerable. Lost and hurt. The words went on forever in Alice's head as she studied him.

"I loved - love- Elena. She never even knew. She probably wouldn't have cared. Her and my brother are all but inseparable. But that doesn't change anything. I still love her." The words came out low, and his voice had gone husky, like it hurt to say these things.

Alice had never felt worse for someone.

And she understood. Jasper was dead. The love of Damon's life seemingly didn't know he existed. Or at least didn't know he loved her.

Then he looked up, like he'd surprised himself by spilling out every hurtful detail of his life.

"I'm sorry. You didn't to hear all that." He said, glancing down at the table. The candlelight in the room caused his long eyelashes the throw shadows across his face.

"No. It's okay. I need to know as much about the situation as possible. And I understand. What you're going through. And I'm sorry." She said quietly, meeting his now uplifted gaze.

"Thank you. If I could, do you think I could ask what happened to you?"

And at that moment, she decided to tell him everything. If they were going to find Elena, there would be no secrets between them.

"_So tell me you want to hear something that were like those years. I'm sick of all the insincere, I'm gonna give all my secrets away."_

~One Republic


	7. Chapter 6 For Your Entertainment Part 1

"Well, Jasper was killed less than a month ago. I loved him more than anything in the world. He was… staked." her voice cracked as she looked up at Damon, who looked deeply sympathetic and sad for her.

"That's why I came with you. I decided that if I ever met someone heartbroken like me, I would try to help them. And here I am. But I'm healing. Sort of." She lied, out of breath since telling him her life story. She'd told him _everything_. Not remembering her human life. Meeting Jasper. Living with the Cullens. Then Jasper's death.

Spilling your heart out was exhausting.

She didn't know why she was so comfortable with Damon, but she just _was_. He was an excellent listener and came off with occasional amusing, slightly sarcastic remarks when they weren't talking about something serious, like her life story.

Damon was an absolute blast to hang out with, she decided as she laughed along with him at something he'd said.

He didn't come off with lame pick up lines or cheesy jokes like most guys, he just had a way of putting things that made them hilarious. And he didn't even seem to try, it just seemed to be the way he was naturally.

After he drank more glasses of red wine than Alice cared to talk about, Damon slid gracefully from his chair and to his feet.

"What are you doing?" She asked, sipping her iced tea and glad to be sober.

He just flashed her a cocky, mischievous smile she'd already come to recognize and strode towards the polished wooden platform where a live band was playing.

" She whispered, knowing he could hear her._Damon."_

He looked over his shoulder and smiled.

When she peered through her fingers, which she had over her face, he had a microphone and was talking.

"This one is for my friend in front of the window back there-" he motioned to her- "Who looks like she is about to start looking for a nice rock to crawl under." Everyone turned to look at her, and she smiled back timidly. People laughed, but not at her, more with her than anything. She laughed softly and looked up at Damon.

Oh Hell.

She silently prayed that was _not_ the instrumental of Adam Lambert's "For Your Entertainment" she was hearing.

It was.

And, amazingly enough, Damon had one of the most amazing voices she'd ever heard. To her surprise, she felt her face break into a smile. She was actually having fun.

After the room broke into happy applause, Damon hopped off the stage and appeared next to Alice.

"Having fun?" He asked with a grin.

"Surprisingly… yes." She said, returning the smile with a small laugh.

"Now you do it." He said, nudging her in the direction of the stage.

"What? Are you insane?"

Come on, Alice, live a little. And do _not_ do Taylor Swift. Please." He said, putting on a fake stricken face at the thought of Taylor Swift.

"Fine. I'll do it."

He gave her a triumphant smile and waved her towards the stage. She took a deep breath, just for the sheer fact she was in the habit of breathing. She muttered something that sounded like "please don't let me make a fool of myself" under her breath as she stepped onto the stage.

Damon stretched out his legs as he sat back down, watching her take the stage.

At least she wasn't doing Taylor Swift, he thought to himself as she said something so low even he couldn't hear.

Moments later, Alice was singing "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus.

_She should have stuck with Taylor Swift_, my mental voice said in exasperation.

Yes, she should have, I mentally agreed. Though in all honesty, the girl could sing. He couldn't fight laughter when people actually got up and started pairing off and dancing.

He rolled his eyes playfully at her when she was done and clapped along with the rest of the room as she exited the stage.

"Miley Cyrus?" He asked, his tone disbelieving, but the half smile playing on his lips gave away his amusement.

She just smiled happily, her face glowing with energy.

"I think we started a trend." He laughed as a young man probably younger than him took the stage and began singing a song called Enjoy the Silence that he enjoyed very much for reasons that cracked him up to this day.

He remembered that day clearly.

He'd been stuck inside without his protection ring and had only himself, Vicki Donavan, and his never ending supply of alchohol to keep him entertained. Well, a little goes a long way, right? So he'd turned on Anberlin's cover of Enjoy the Silence and they'd had a full blown, two-person, dance party.

And at one point, he'd leapt up on the small ledge in front of the railing of the landing at the top of the stairs, using his natural vampire grace to keep him balanced. He'd moved his body gracefully from side to side, moving his arms in sync with the rest of his body. Ah, good times.

He cocked his and told Alice exactly what he'd told Vicki that day.

"No more talking, let's dance!"

He left her standing there and leapt as gracefully on to the long, unused table in the center of the room just as gracefully as he'd leapt on to that ledge.

His body followed the exact pattern it had then, and right before he'd jumped, he'd unbuttoned his black dress shirt with vampire speed.

Alice was staring open-mouthed, snapping her jaw shut when she realized it was hanging open.

Then she was lost in helpless, hysterical laughter.

He had himself quite an audience, cheering and whistling and - hey, that hurt, dammit! He glanced around, not breaking his rhythm to see what had just hit him in the side of the head. His eyes caught the change laying at his feet, along with several large bills that looked, from that angle, to all be fifties or hundreds. Only this time, instead of it being short, he kept up with his steps, moving his body in time with the beat until the song ended.

And, just like last time, he was drunk to the point of no return.

Alice grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him down when the song ended. She was trying to chastise him, but she was laughing too hard.

"You shouldn't have done that!" She finally managed when she stopped laughing.

"Of course I should have."

She just gave him the God-you're-so-damn-cocky look. She turned to sit back down when something caught her eye as he shrugged of his jacket and hung it on one of the hooks by the door, apparently planning to stay and party awhile. Alice sighed, figuring there was no way to talk him out of staying and getting any more wasted than he already was.

"Ah, Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"You have money, ah, in your jeans." She said, elegant little arched eyebrows shooting up.

He looked down to see bills folded up and stuck in various areas of his waistband.

"Huh. Wonder how that got there."

"_Oh, do you know what you got into? Can you handle what I'm bout' to do? Cause' it's about to get rough for you. I'm here for your entertainment."_

~Adam Lambert


	8. Chapter 7 For Your Entertainment Part 2

"Alice, may I have this dance?"

She turned to watch Damon approach, shirt still unbuttoned. He'd managed to turn a four star restaurant into a full blown dance party.

"Absolutely." She said, sliding her hand in his. They were far and away the two most beautiful people there.

Damon, with his dark hair and (currently) dark eyes that contrasted against flawless, pale skin. And Alice, with her short, dark pixie cut that contrasted against her skin just like it did Damon's, coupled with piercing topaz eyes that made her look like some impossibly gorgeous creature. Which she was. And so was Damon. They were both immortally perfect, flawless vampires.

He led her to the center of the dance floor and slid his arms around her waist, and she slid her arms around his neck. They moved together perfectly to the slow rhythm of Sara Bareilles' "Gravity." The candlelight danced on their faces, casting soft shadows on them. Damon, drunk as he was, didn't stumble or falter, he never stopped moving. Alice contently leaned against him, his skin warm against her face. Her hair brushed his neck and jaw, and she felt safe and secure with the side of her face resting against his chest. Song after song, they danced long into the night, and didn't stop until they were told the place was closing. They slid easily out of their embrace, just as easily as they'd slid into it. Damon looked on the verge of passing out as they left, and she took his wrist to keep him steady. Her body was loose and relaxed, and her abilities easily focused so she could make sure nothing had changed with their path.

Nope, Elena and the dark haired, green eyed young man that had to be Damon's brother still walked into that bar in Georgia looking for the vampire named Bree.

Damon led her to the hallway that their rooms were own, walking her to the door of her room.

"I had fun tonight. Thank you, Damon." She said, looking up into his eyes.

"No problem, happy to help. You weren't all that much of a killjoy yourself." He said with his trademark cocky smirk.

"Um, may I ask you something?" She asked, rocking back on her heels absently. He nodded and looked like he had sobered some.

"A young man. Dark hair, lighter than yours, green eyes, about your height - is that Stefan?"

"Yeah. That's my little brother."

"Okay. You must be tired. I'll let you get some sleep." She said, resting her hand on the knob to her door.

"I'm fine if you are. Do you have some more questions?" He asked, cocking his head and leaning against the door. She considered for a moment. He did look more alert, and she did have a few more questions that had to do with their journey.

"If you're sure you don't mind." She finally said, brushing hair out of her eyes and causing her little bangles to shift.

"Absolutely."

Minutes later, they were comfortable and sitting on the huge white suede couch in front of the marble fireplace. Their shoes were by the door, and though she enjoying dancing, being off her feet was nice.

"This is a little bit personal, but I need every detail of Elena's life and yours you have. We'll find her faster." She asked nervously, trying not to pry. He nodded and leaned his head back so it was resting on the back of the couch, closing his eyes.

"Elena is seventeen. Her full name is Elena Gilbert but she's adopted and her real mother's name is Isobel. Her adopted parents died in a car accident. Her brother is the biological son of her adopted parents. His name is Jeremy, and he looks like her, even though their not related. Brown hair, brown eyes.

She was living with her Aunt Jenna when she left. By the way, I turned Elena's birth mother into a vampire. Who is MIA. Speaking of vampires, Stefan and I were turned by Katherine Pierce who was locked in a tomb under a church that was burned to the ground. But I talked to a witch that knew Katherine, and she protected her. She put a spell on one of Katherine's necklaces. I couldn't free her for roughly a century and a half but when I opened the tomb… she wasn't there. All of the other vampire that were in the church were. She wasn't. I found out not long after that from someone that knew Katherine in 1864 that had seen her in Chicago in nineteen… something. Katherine knew where I was. Knew where my brother was. Didn't care. And that is mine and Elena's stories."

Alice looked at him blankly. God, he'd been through so much.

"I'm so sorry, Damon." She managed, trying to regain composure.

"Ah, it's nothing. Just a vampire's life in a nutshell." He shrugged, his eyes still closed.

They talked about some of the most random things after that. Music tastes, where they'd been as far as traveling the world went, movies, TV shows, anything they could think of. Alice wasn't tired, and she couldn't tell if Damon was or not.

Alice didn't know how long she'd zoned out as the first pink streaks began lighting the sky outside her window. Her and Damon had fallen silent for a few moments, and she'd become lost in thought, unaware of her surroundings. It hadn't been an uncomfortable silence, it had just been them becoming absorbed in their thoughts.

But now, snapping out of her trancelike state, she felt the faintest pressure on her legs.

She looked down to see Damon's head resting on her lap, the rest of him sprawled at an odd angle. Not surprising, seeing as he must have fallen asleep sitting up and fallen sideways.

She gently pushed his hair away from his forehead, looking at his sleeping features. He seemed so peaceful, so tranquil, without the slight predatory glint in his eyes or the sarcastic curl of his lip. He looked so… human.

So, being careful not to wake him, she reach over and managed to awkwardly adjust him so that he wasn't in such a tangled position. His head still rested on her lap, and honestly, she didn't mind.

Absently, she gently ran her finger down the side of his face, tracing his cheekbone and his jaw line, stopping her finger at the base of his throat.

After watching the sunrise, sleepiness overtook her and she stretched one arm out to her side, and her other arm over Damon's chest and leaned her head back against the back of the couch.

The last thing she remembered before sleep took her was that even though it wasn't necessary for a vampire, the feel of his heart beating softly against her arm.

"_As I try to make you see that you're everything I think I need, here on the ground. But you're neither friend nor foe, though I can't seem to let you go. The one thing I still know is that you're keeping me down."_

~Sara Bareilles


	9. Chapter 8 I'd Come For You

The sun on Damon's face woke him up.

He was… comfortable, just in a strange position. He vaguely remembered the details of the previous night: dancing on a table, dancing with Alice, sitting with her and talking… Yep, that was about as far as his memory went. It dawned on him that he must have passed out at some point last night. He opened his eyes and found himself looking at the white ceiling. Turning his head, he realized how close Alice was. And, looking down, he assessed his position.

His shoulders were against the arm of the couch, his head was dangling over the edge, his upper back was resting in Alice's lap, and the rest of him was sprawled over the couch.

Alice was sound asleep, her head leaning against the back of the couch. He looked at his watch and was informed it was one in the afternoon. Sighing, he carefully slid himself off of Alice's lap. He walked into the dining room adjoined to the living room and pulled out his cell phone, calling downstairs to inform the hotel they were checking out. They had his credit card number and would be charging their stay to that. When he came back into the living room, Alice was still sleeping soundly. He walked over and slid one arm under her back and the other under her legs, lifting her up with no effort at all. Looking around, he found the small suitcase she'd put a change of clothes and her purse in. She'd known that they would be leaving this morning, but he figured he would stop somewhere for her to change clothes and eat breakfast when she woke up.

So, sliding his hand through the handle of the case, he carried both it and Alice out the door. In a blur of motion, he was in the lobby and walking out the door, which the guy at the desk opened for him. Damon muttered a thank you and walked out into the afternoon light, walking only a few yards to his car, which he'd had pulled around.

He gently sat her in the passenger's side and slid the seat belt around her waist, buckling it smoothly.

Once he was in the car and her suitcase was in the trunk with the rest of the luggage, he pulled out of the hotel and back onto the road.

Just a few minutes later, he heard Alice's voice.

"Damon?" She asked sleepily, turning to face him.

"Yes?"

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked, straightening in her seat.

"Well, it's about ten after one right now." He replied, pulling into a gas station so he could get gas and she could change clothes.

"I'll be right back." She said, walking inside to change and pay for gas.

He stood waiting after he'd filled the tank of the GTO, but Alice didn't come out.

Alice was sliding a comb through her hair, already in fresh clothes, when there was a knock on the door. It sounded innocent enough, like someone needing to use the bathroom, but her senses told her otherwise. When she hadn't answered the knocking two minutes later, the door came off it's hinges. Two vampires burst in, ones that she remembered seeing in that alleyway that night Jasper had been killed. The memory of his death sent a stab of white hot pain through, but she forces herself to focus on the vampires in front of her.

They were extremely built and strong looking, physically no older than about twenty five. Both were male and had eyes the color of blood.

She knew what they wanted. She remembered what she'd been shown by Jasper's killer that night. They wanted her as a lab rat because of her powers. She grabbed for something to use as a weapon but knew it wouldn't do any good. These vampires were much stronger, they fed on human blood. One grabbed both of her arms and the other came at her with a needle of what she assumed was some kind of sedative before she had time to defend herself. They'd probably Influenced the owner of the store… or worse. There had been no one else in the store besides her and the human cashier. And Damon would just think she was taking longer because she was primping and doing all the other things that normally kept women in bathrooms for so long. Even when he did realize something was wrong, it would be too late. It was too late now, she thought as the needle rapidly approached her arm.

Yet against all odds, her saving grace in leather burst into the room and sent the needle flying, staking the vampire holding in one smooth motion. She couldn't believe it. He'd come. He was _there_. She was alive.

Pulling her easily from the shocked vampire's grasp, he staked that one just as easily as he had the one with the needle.

Still shocked at how close she'd come to being taken, she through her arms around Damon's waist and buried her face in his shirt, trembling and clinging to the only solid thing in the spinning world around her.

He didn't hesitate when he wound his own arms around her. Fury still coursed through him, leaving his canines extended and he knew without looking in the mirror that his face was at least partially transformed.

He felt something twist inside him when he realized that had arrived one instant later, Alice would have been taken. He closed his eyes and tried to make his features relax, but he knew his face was still one of a transformed vampire. Tremors ran through Alice, who was clinging to him helplessly. He knew just from being around her for two days that she was a naturally strong willed person and that only something this drastic could probably shake her like this. Slowly but surely, he forced his face to fix itself, and as he looked over Alice's shoulder at the mirror on the back wall, he saw that his face looked every inch normal and human, with the exception if the fact his eyes were blood red. He'd fed from the blood supply he'd brought with him. Before leaving Forks, he'd raided the blood bank in the nearby town of Port Angeles.

He felt a wetness on his neck and, distracted from his thoughts, looked down to see his bright red blood running from a cut he must have gotten when he'd staked the one restraining Alice. The cut had to have been made with wood or it would have healed by now. Not letting go of Alice, he reached for a paper towel to slow the bleeding. Alice moved to look up at him to see what was wrong. He was currently turned away, reaching for something to put on his neck. When he turned back, she was staring at the blood on his neck, fully transformed.

Huh. A vampire that lived off of animal blood, faced with steadily streaming vampire blood. Not near as tempting as human blood, but still better smelling than bunny blood.

_Well, this is an interesting predicament_, his mental voice said.

No shit.

"_So if you're ever lost and find yourself all alone, I'd search forever just to bring you home. Here and now, this I vow. By now you know that I'd come for you."_

~Nickelback


	10. Chapter 9 The Thirst Is Taking Over

He considered briefly. He'd been trying to figure out a way to thank Alice for helping him find Elena. Humans offered their blood to vampires when they wanted to express, why couldn't he?

Having made up his mind, he walked out of the bathroom, not releasing his hold on Alice's waist. She just squeezed her eyes shut and looked like she was trying to make her features go back to normal. A vampire couldn't actually tell when they'd transformed until their canines extended. But he knew that there was no way a vampire facing bloodlust was going to be able to go back to normal unless one of two things happen. Option one, their gotten away from the blood and given time to calm down. Option two, you satisfy it. He was doing the latter. Pausing at the counter to compel the cashier into not remembering his and Alice being there and being totally shocked when he found two dead bodies in the women's bathroom tomorrow.

Happy with his work and glad he'd remembered to grab Alice's duffle bag upon leaving the bathroom, he walked out into the afternoon sunlight. He knew that if he let her go, Alice would flee so she wouldn't risk giving in to her bloodlust. Which is exactly why he didn't let go of her as he put her duffle bag in the trunk and still didn't release her until he'd got them both in the car and locked the doors. He'd placed her in the passenger's side and he'd gotten behind the wheel, but he had no intentions of driving.

Instead, he leaned over towards her, something that wasn't difficult seeing as the interior of the car wasn't exactly roomy. He arched his neck, sliding the blade of the pocketknife he carried on his hip under the edge of the wound and opening it further, causing even more blood to run down his neck and into the silk of his black dress shirt.

"_No." _She said the word immediately and vehemently, shaking her head and trying to get away from the bleeding vampire in front of her.

"Yes. It's the least I can do considering what you're doing for me." He argued, trying to ignore the vulnerability he felt at exposing his neck the way so many women had done for him. He felt… exposed.

"This is not who I am. I feed off of animals and animals alone. This would be going against everything Carlisle ever taught me and my family. After everything he's done for me, I would _never_ betray him that way." She said, still trying to force herself farther away from him.

"I am not human. You are at no risk of killing me or even hurting me, Alice. _Do it_." He spoke the last two words with enough force to make her flinch.

Her eyes grazed over his neck, at the blood she didn't know if she could resist much longer. She shook her head again, trembling in fear. Fear of herself. Fear of how tempting the sweet smelling red liquid in front of her was.

"_Alice."_ That was the one word that did it. Spoken so seductively, so coaxingly. Just soft enough to sound hoarse and raspy, the kind of tone that sent shivers down her spine. She turned towards him, looking longingly at his neck. He was leaning over the console and very much within her reach.

"You don't know what you're getting into…" She tried to say, but her mind had already went cloudy as her eyes focused on Damon's blood.

"Yes I do." He said, putting his hand behind her head and pulling her forward.

She opened her mouth against the wound and began drinking his blood. She would never be able to find words to describe the feeling of, after so long living off of deer and other wild animals, the taste of blood that was not human, but still more delicious than she could have ever imagined. She put her hands in his hair, pulling him tightly to her, acting on habit and instinct. She could feel their hearts beating together, seeing as they'd both picked up the habit of breathing like a human would. She could feel the softness of his hair between her clenched fingers.

Suddenly their minds began to pull together, a natural side effect of a vampire drinking a human's - or in this case, a vampire's - blood.

She saw images in Damon's mind flash before her too fast to follow, and knew her mind would probably be the same to him. This wasn't quite as smooth of a process because they were both vampires, but it was the same concept. She saw one set of images totally walled off, and trying to edge around the wall got her nowhere.

She didn't know how long she had been feeding on Damon's blood when she opened her eyes. Well, their position had certainly changed.

She had her hands braced against his shoulders and had pushed him back against the driver's side door, never letting go of his neck. When she finally managed to break away from the blood flowing from the cut in that sensitive area just between his neck and his shoulder, she looked up into the blood red eyes of Damon. She knew that hers know matched his in their color. He was breathing heavily and his hair was wild and astray. Their faces were no more that about an inch and a half apart, their breath mingling with each others. You could cut the tension between us with a knife, Alice thought wildly. Her hands were still on his shoulders and he had one hand wound through her hair and his other hand on the back of her neck. When she realized that they were both leaning forward by mere millimeters, she forced herself to pull back from him. He blinked a couple of times as if in shock of what had just almost happened as she leaned away from him, back into the passenger's side. Minutes later, they were still silent and still breathless.

"Y-you should not have let me do that." She choked.

"Yes I should have." He replied evenly, meeting her eyes.

"Thank you for, um…" She tried to figure out how to finish the sentence. _Thank you for letting me drink your blood_ sounded just a little bit too weird.

"You're welcome." He said, obviously understanding the unspoken rest of her sentence.

And, in spite of what had just happened, the drive to Georgia wasn't even awkward. But Alice also noticed there was a tension that wasn't there before. The thing that frightened her was what kind of tension it was.

"_You alone are what my soul needs, you know the thirst is taking over. Hardly breathe, I'm in urgent need, you know the thirst is taking over."_

~Skillet


	11. Chapter 10 You're Something Beautiful

Damon held the door open for Alice as they walked into Bree's bar. He'd picked the lock and small bars in Georgia didn't have security systems, so it had almost been too easy. Damon liked a challenge.

He had decided to wait for Bree and make himself at home. He went to fix Alice some tea with a kick, but she shot him a fire freezing look. Okay, so apparently she didn't approve of daytime drinking. So he just sighed and got onto a bar stool, motioning for her to do the same.

"So tell me something, Alice."

"What?" She asked, hopping onto the bar stool next to him.

"We have an hour before Bree gets here. Would you like me to teach you to dance?" He asked, a mischievous smile on his face.

"I know how to dance, Damon." She said, her eyebrows lifting.

"No, you don't. Not the right way." He said, pulling her onto the bar.

"Uh oh. What are you thinking?" She asked as he got to his feet and pulled her with him.

"Turn around." He whispered in her ear, making her shiver for a reason that had nothing to do with the fact the room was a little drafty.

She obeyed, turning away so the her back was to his chest.

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and brought both of their arms up above their heads. He began using both words and movements to teach her.

And, half and hour later, she had it perfected.

As she turned to get off the bar, her shoe caught his and they both fell down, falling onto the bar.

Damon made a small noise of discomfort as they the bar, him hitting it back-first and her fall broken slightly because she landed on top of him.

"Aren't all vampires supposed to be coordinated?" He laughed, folding his arms behind his head.

"Yeah… their supposed to be." She said, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. They'd fallen at an angle, so she'd fallen face first into his chest. She was rather comfortable, and looking at him as he folded his arms behind him, apparently he was as well.

But in spite of the fact she was comfortable, she finally pushed herself onto her elbows and got to her feet. She held out her hand to Damon, but he just smiled and shook his head, content to stay sprawled out on the bar. She shrugged and hopped up onto the bar and sat at his feet.

They talked and made their usual playful banter until Bree got there. They both heard the car pull up at the same time, and Damon accepted Alice's outstretched hand and pulled himself into a sitting position next to her.

"Hello, Bree." He greeted her, rising to stand in front of Alice. He'd developed a protective instinct over her. But being the stubborn vampire she was, she stood up and grabbed his arm, curling her fingers around his elbow. Bree looked between them, immediately seeing the mutual protectiveness.

"Damon… what do you want?" She asked, tensing.

"Well, hello to you too. No warm welcome?" He asked, cocking his head and flashing a smile.

"Damon, last time you were here, you _killed me. _If you want a warm welcome, honey I can tell you where to stick it." She replied, walking past him to wipe down the bar.

"I didn't come here for small talk. I'm looking for Elena." He said, turning to face her. He and Alice and figured out that Elena would have already been here and left before they got here, but that maybe Bree would know something about where she and Stefan had been going.

"How did you know I'm alive? How do you even know that she came here?" She asked, brow furrowing. She looked at Alice, but didn't seem to care if they were introduced.

"Me. I'm physic and I'm helping him find her. No, not stalk her." She said, seeing Bree ask the question.

Bree's eyes widened briefly.

"Why should I help you? Furthermore, why should I trust that you're not stalking her, whatever your little physic friend says?" She said, putting her hands on her hips.

Alice walked forward and extended her hand.

"See for yourself. Vampirism would not have effected your witch ability to read our intentions and we cannot alter the intentions you see. We have nothing to hide." She said, still holding out her delicate, pale hand.

Bree closed her eyes and took Alice's hand. About thirty seconds later, she withdrew her hand and looked at Alice approvingly.

"Now you, Damon." Alice said, taking his wrist so she could draw his hand forward.

He curled his fingers around Bree's, looking into her eyes.

"Okay. I'll help you." She finally said, looking between them.

"Thank you." Alice said, leaning forward and impulsively hugging the woman. Though it was hesitant, she gave Alice a small pat on the back.

It was hard not to like Alice.

A few minutes later, the bar was closed so that they could talk in private.

"Last I heard, they were heading for the coast, far away from Mystic Falls. That's what Stefan told me, and Elena said they were looking into a place in Beverly Hills." She told them as they sat at the bar across from her.

Damon propped his elbows on the bar and began softly singing "Beverly Hills" by Weezer.

Alice elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a "stop fooling around" look.

Thirty minutes later, Bree and Alice were sitting across from each other while Damon went outside and tried for what he described as the millionth time to call Stefan or, more preferably, Elena. Alice watched with amusement as Damon cussed out his cell phone.

"You have quite strong feelings for that man out there." Bree said, causing Alice's eyebrows to lift in the universal sign of "I beg your pardon?"

"When I read you, I could see that even if you don't know it yet, you have some rather strong feelings for Damon." She said with a small smile.

Meeting Bree's eyes, Alice realized with a sense of physically and emotionally falling to a place that she'd never be able to get up from, she came to the terrifying conclusion that she was right.

She was falling for Damon Salvatore.

"_You're something beautiful, a contradiction. I wanna play the game, I want the friction. You will be the death of me."_

~Muse


	12. Chapter 11 You Wanna Touch Me Too

Damon looked over at Alice, who was sleeping peacefully in the passenger's side of the car.

They'd left Georgia three hours ago and he could tell Alice was still shaken by what had happened at the gas station with those creeps that were still hunting her. She'd explained all about the vampires on her trail, not that it was necessary since he already knew the story. But, of course, she could not know that he was the one that had been on that building with her that night.

Suddenly Alice started jerking and whimpering. He looked over at her, panic shooting through him instinctively. He pulled off to the side of the road and started to wake her up. He had one hand reaching over to gently nudge her and the other resting on the console. Still locked in a nightmare she flailed and her hand locked around his, the one resting on the console. Her body seemed to calm, but whimpers that were so soft that they would have been inaudible to human ears still came from her sleeping form. He gently turned his hand so that their palms met and they laced their fingers together. Using his free hand to pull back onto the road, he drove to the closest hotel he could find. Pulling up in front of it, he gently unlaced their fingers and shot around to the passenger's side.

He reached in, unclipped her seatbelt, and slid her out of her car. Her fingers, even in sleep, clung to his leather jacket.

He smiled softly at the way that her delicate form cradled in his arms and her short, spiky hair made her look like a little vampire pixie.

Before they'd arrived in Georgia, they'd bought contact lenses and painted them so the vibrancy of the irises of their eyes would be shielded by simple, human colors. Hers were the same golden color that they were when she was living on animal blood and his were the same crystalline blue that they'd been when he was human.

He carried her inside and after checking in, took her to the room adjoined to his, laying her carefully on the bed. He removed her little silver ballet flats and pulled the blankets over her.

He gently slid her fingers from his jacket and turned to walk away when something stopped him.

He looked down to see her fingers clinging to his hand.

"Don't go." She whispered, still half asleep.

He sighed and slid out of his jacket, hanging it over the back of one of two armchairs in the room. He took off his shoes at the end of the bed and pulled back one side of the blankets. He slid in beside her and stared at the ceiling, which he could still see when he turned off the small lamp on the nightstand next to him.

Alice wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head on his chest, her hair brushing his neck. He gently put an arm around her waist and folded the other one behind his head. The last thing he remembered before he fell asleep was Alice whispering "Thank you, Damon."

As the first streaks of purples and pinks began to cut away at the gray down sky, Alice awoke to find herself curled up in the crook of Damon's arm.

He was awake and had been looking out the window. Now he looked down at her and stretched like a cat.

"Morning, pixie." He said.

"Morning, Damon. I, ah, guess we should get back on the road. Start heading for California." She said, getting to her feet.

Damon cringed slightly at the thought of climbing back in the car and playfully buried his head under his pillow. Alice simply shook her head at him and laughed and waited while he got out of bed and stretched again. He disappeared briefly and came back with her duffel bag, which he'd retrieved from the car.

"So let me grab a quick shower and I'll be ready." Alice said, accepting the duffel bag Damon held out.

He nodded and disappeared again.

An hour later, they met back in Damon's room. They'd both gotten showers and his hair was still wet and partially sticking to his forehead. Alice tried not to stare, which was harder than it sounded since Damon was wearing nothing but dark jeans that were tight and low on his waist. She realized that his eyes were a deep black, the irises almost blending in with the pupil. They'd taken out their contacts last night, and she realized that her eyes must look identical to his. They both had dark circles under their eyes and skin that was too pale even for vampires.

"Alice, you need to take my blood again." He said simply, folding his arms over his chest. And before she could protest or agree, he arched his neck and raked his fingernails across his neck, opening a vein. He sat calmly on the edge of the bed and turned so she could get to his neck. She sat down across from him and leaned forward to press her mouth to his neck. His arms wound around her waist and he felt her pull away from the rough wound, letting it heal. Then, making it quick and painless, she slid her fangs into a vein in his neck. He cried out, but not in a bad way.

When she pulled away and let the wound heal, she arched her slim neck.

He opened his mouth to say no, to protest, but instead he only felt his fangs extend. He moved forward and buried his teeth in her neck, drawing out her blood. He moved forward and didn't realized how hard he'd moved until he realized they'd both hit something solid. He lay on top of her drinking her blood, as her nails bit into his arms. Even Jasper had never taken her blood before.

A few moments later, he pulled away from her neck and their eyes met briefly, and the tension that had been there since she'd first taken his blood flared. But no, she couldn't do that, couldn't taken advantage of his willingness when the blood exchange had made him so … wanting.

"We have to go to California." She whispered huskily, dropping her eyes to the small little beads of blood welling from where her nails had sunk deep into his arms. He nodded and got off of her in one fluid, easy motion. His hair was mussed and wild and even his eyes looked distraught to her.

And he had never looked better.

"_I wanna touch you, you wanna touch me too. Everyday, but all I have is time. Our love's the perfect crime."_

~The All American Rejects


	13. Chapter 12 She Is Everything

Damon and Alice pulled up in front of the house that Bree had told them Stefan and Elena were interested in. It was _huge_. The for sale sign was still in the yard, but it looked like it was being moved in to. They buy a house and forget to take the sign off the lawn? _That's pathetic, you two,_ he thought to himself as him and Alice got out of the car, both stiff as hell from being on the road for the past several days.

"This is it." Alice said, half in confirmation and half in disbelief of the fact that today they would probably see Stefan and Elena.

Damon could hear all the meanings in those three words.

This is it, the house that Stefan and Elena are living in.

This is it, the end of our journey.

But the third "this is it" he knew would come later - after he talked to Elena, and before Alice returned to her family in Forks.

This is it, this is goodbye.

That would be the one to come later. The realization that he would probably never again see Alice Cullen again after the end of the day left him with a strange hollow feeling that he didn't totally understand.

Alice's eyes were far away and Damon realized she was having a vision.

"We need to get invited to the Gala at Miss Arriane's Estate. They will be there." She said, her voice trance-like.

"Alright. Where is Miss Arri-whatever's Estate?" He asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"I saw gardens, flowers everywhere. It's on North Central Street." She said, sitting on the steps. He put a hand on her shoulder, seeing how much the vision had taken out of her. She looked up at him and smiled gently as he sat down at her side.

"How do we get invited?" He asked, half to himself and half to her.

"Well, all the people I saw that were there in my vision were very pretty. And at least three quarters of them were vampires. No disguise. No contacts. This is a vampire party."

"Super. That's just _lovely,"_ he said sarcastically. "Well, we won't have a problem getting in, we just either need to get invited or show up as two of the guests that have _already_ been invited." He said, getting to his feet and starting to pace on the porch.

"I say we can get invited. We are vampires and all that." She said, getting to her feet as well.

"_How_ do we get invited, though? That's the major question." He said, still pacing.

"I think I can get us invited." Alice finally said. "Give me one hour."

_**At Lady Arriane's Estate**_

Alice had been let through the gate after confirming that she was a vampire, and was now approaching the front door of the huge mansion that was commonly known as the Arriane Estate. She lifted her hand to knock, but the door was opened by a tall man of about thirty with pale blond hair and hazel eyes.

"Welcome, Miss Cullen." He greeted her to her surprise. There had to be a physic living there, because she hadn't called to say she was coming.

"Thank you." She replied, following him through the elaborate foyer and into the sitting room.

"Lady Arriane shall be with you in a moment. May I offer you something to drink? I am sure housekeeping would offer a vein." He said as calmly as he would if he was offering her sweet tea.

"Ah, no thank you." She replied, crossing her legs as she settled on the chaise lounge he'd seated her at. Something unnerved her about the place, and she wished deeply that Damon was there with her.

But he was back at the house, waiting for Stefan and Elena. Her physic senses had told her that if she explained her power, then she would be welcomed and then hopefully invited to the gala. Well, it was worth a shot.

And, lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the blond girl that looked about a year or so younger than her take a seat across from her until the girl spoke.

"Hello, Alice. Miss Arriane is able to see you, but I take care of everything regarding her whilst she is not available." She said with a smile.

"Oh, thank you so much for seeing me. It's just that I am a physic and I saw the most beautiful gala being held here tomorrow night and I was curious because, well… almost everyone was vampires." She said, telling the truth for the part. Because technically, she was only curious because of Stefan and Elena.

"Well, if you would like to meet her, she will be at her gala and she would love to meet you. Your powers will most definitely intrigue her." She said much to Alice's relief. They were invited. They would see Stefan and Elena. Alice wanted to get up and do a happy dance.

"Wonderful. I would be honored. May I bring a date? He is a vampire as well." She said, mentally crossing her fingers.

"Absolutely."

_**At Stefan and Elena's house**_

Damon sat on the porch and pulled out the many times read note that he kept folded into the pocket of his leather jacket. It was worn and creased from all the times he'd pulled it out and read it. And, for the millionth time, he read it again.

_Damon,_

_Stefan and I are leaving town. I would have told you goodbye in person, but we are in a hurry. We will both miss you and of course Mystic Falls, but we both think it's time for a change. I wish you every happiness in the world, Damon, I really do. Don't worry about us, we are fine._

_Elena_

Even now, after reading it so many times, he still clenched his teeth and longed to rip the curt, cryptic little note to shreds. Of course he would worry! He let out a sigh of sheer exasperation and slid the note back in his pocket. But he reminded himself, he would see her tonight at the latest. They had to come home eventually.

Just then, Alice pulled up in his car, which she'd taken to Lady Whatever's house. She smiled radiantly, getting out of the car.

"We are invited to Lady Arriane's Gala, tomorrow night, starting at eight." She beamed. Damon's face broke out in a smile of pure joy and triumph and gratitude to the little pixie in front of him. He grabbed her around the waist and swung her around once before sitting her on the ground.

"Alice, you are _brilliant."_

Alice couldn't even respond. She could only wonder how she'd been insane enough to fall in love with him.

"_This is going to break me clean in two. This is going to bring me close to you. She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted. She is everything I want that I never knew I needed."_

~The Fray


	14. Chapter 13 Where Were You?

Damon waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs on the night of the gala. Alice was getting ready upstairs and he was standing in the living room. Oddly enough, Stefan and Elena had never shown up, but there was not a doubt in the world that they would be at this gala. Him and Alice were borrowing their house so she had somewhere to get ready. Finding a dress and a simple black and white tux had been easy in Beverly Hills, but once they'd come to the dilemma of having no where to get ready, they'd decided to use Stefan and Elena's house. Alice had went back to her animal blood diet, though Damon didn't completely know why.

Damon's breath was taken away, metaphorically speaking, when she appeared at the top of the stairs. Her eyes were again gold, so they matched the dress she was wearing. It wasn't a gaudy gold or a gold too dull, it was… perfect. She was wearing only the faintest trace of lip gloss and a touch of smoky eye shadow. She was stunning, striking, beautiful… Damon would have mentally named off more words if he hadn't had to take her hand when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Her fingers curled around his and he forced an encouraging smile, though he finding it hard to even put one foot in front of the other. He had never been like this. He had never been so completely… _mesmerized_.

"Alice, you look…" He tried to say "beautiful" or "incredible" but found them too weak and colorless of words..

But it must have been in his eyes, because she smiled despite herself. She didn't look like she was used to leaving people speechless. Let alone cocky, confident people like him.

They pulled up at the mansion and he helped her out of the car and she took his arm as they approached the front door, which was standing open. The grounds were lit up with white candles, and cars were _everywhere._

He felt Alice's hand tense on his arm as they walked into the entryway. He was going to ask what was wrong when they were approached by a blond woman that looked slightly younger than Alice.

"Alice! How wonderful you come. This young man must be Damon. What a looker." She smiled and glanced at him at the end of her sentence. He and Alice were posing as a couple, and Alice was doing extremely well with looking possessive.

"Yes, my Damon here is _very_ handsome, isn't he? It's just so hard to believe he's mine." Alice said with just enough of an edge to say "back off lady, he's spoken for."

The blond laughed and seemed to get the message. She guided them into a large room that he took as the ballroom and was already crowded with people.

After the woman said that she was going to excuse herself and leave them to enjoy the festivities, Alice leaned over and whispered to Damon.

"How are we going to find Stefan and Elena in all this?"

"I have no idea, but we'll manage." He said, looking around.

Though she wouldn't admit it to him, Alice was getting extremely bad vibes off the house.

"Well, we could dance until we see them." Alice suggested, looking towards the center of the room where several couples were dancing.

"Good idea, we can see them easier from the middle of the room." Damon agreed, leading her of the center of the room as a new song started.

The piano instrumental at the beginning of the song struck her as familiar and she didn't realize why until she heard the lyrics. It was the song she'd been listening to while she'd been packing the day she'd left with Damon.

Standing in the center of the room, her and Damon fell into an easy rhythm. Her arms were around his neck and his hands rested on either side of her waist. And for a moment, it actually felt normal. Like she could pretend that they were just there because they wanted to be and not because they were hunting down Elena Gilbert. But then she came back to reality, where they actually were hunting Elena down and she was dancing with Damon to a song she'd deduced was called "Only One." Yet even though the dance was picture perfect, the awful vibes the house gave off still gave her the shivers.

As the song ended, the blond girl tapped Damon on the shoulder.

He looked over his shoulder at her and she smiled nervously, obviously scared of getting her head snapped off for interrupting.

"Yes?" He asked, forcing patience.

"Our hostess would like to see you, Mister Salvatore." She said, her gaze flicking to Alice so he knew that he was wanted alone.

He looked over at Alice, who nodded and stepped back. He knew that if she saw Stefan and Elena that she would keep an eye on them until he came back.

"Right this way." She said, leading him out of the room and up a wrought iron spiral staircase. When they reached the top, he absently wondered how she knew his last name. He knew Alice hadn't mentioned it and he could only assume there was a telepath or a physic living here.

The woman walked to the end of the hall and knocked on the door before opening it just enough to poke her head in, but not enough for Damon to see in the room.

"Miss Arriane? Damon Salvatore is here." She said, and Damon thought he could detect double meaning in those words.

"Send him in." Came a whisper that muffled the woman's actual voice.

"She is ready for you." The blond said, stepping back.

Had Damon known that downstairs, Alice was in danger, he would have never went in that room. Had he known who was waiting on the other side of that door, he would have never went in there.

But he didn't know these things, so he stepped over the threshold and heard the woman close the door behind him and then disappear down the hallway.

The woman walked out of the shadows and smiled radiantly.

"Hello, Damon."

"Hello, Katherine."

"_Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you? Just a little late, you found me, you found me. Why'd you have to wait, to find me, to find me?"_

~The Fray


	15. Chapter 14 Keep Holding On

Alice was getting more and more anxious my the second as she waited for Damon. She had no idea what was taking him so long and on top of that, she didn't see Stefan or Elena anywhere.

"Oh Damon… where the hell are you?" She whispered, getting up from the ottoman she'd been sitting on while waiting for him.

The bad feeling was increasing and she really wished she knew where Damon was. She was worried sick.

"My, my. What a worried young lady we have here." Said a voice from behind her. A tall, built man with blood red eyes was walking towards her with a walk that something deep inside of her recognized, but just couldn't place.

"May I ask what seems to trouble you?" He asked, standing beside her.

"Oh nothing, just waiting for my escort to arrive back. He will be back anytime now." She said, the warning clear in her voice.

"Ah, your escort is Mister Damon Salvatore, is it not?" He asked much to her confusion.

"How do you know his name?" She asked calmly, glad she'd had decades to practice looking cool and collected.

"Miss Arriane, a close friend of mine knows him. Rather… closely." He said with a small laugh, as if at some private joke.

Alice was inching towards the door, trying not to look suspicious. Which, of course, she was.

She sent a mental plea she knew Damon could never hear, but she sent it anyway.

_Damon, please help me. I don't know who this man is, but I have the worst feeling that he wants to kill me._

Oh yes, _that _sounds normal, she thought to herself.

She bit her lip and looked up at the clock, and that was when the vampire next to her leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Lady Arriane can hear us. And if you so much as whimper, she will kill your Damon."

Alice wanted to yell and kick and scream as he took her by the arm and guided her outside, but the words "kill" and "Damon" were ringing in her ears.

She was thrown in a car and bound at the wrists with ropes that she could immediately tell were soaked in vervain.

Alice then knew where she recognized the man from. He was the man leading the vampires that wanted her as a lab rat.

She wished so many things at that moment.

She wished she'd had time to say goodbye to Damon and to tell him how much he'd helped her when he'd come to her that day, giving her something to do besides think about how without Jasper, life couldn't go on.

She wished she'd had time to tell her family goodbye. She wanted to tell Carlisle how grateful she was to him making her who she was today. She wanted to tell Rosalie that even though she was a bitch sometimes, she still loved her anyway. She wanted Edward to know that he was the most caring, understanding brother in the world and that she wouldn't trade him for anything. She wanted Bella to know that she was the sister she had never had. She wanted to tell Emmet he was annoying but also one of the most loyal people she had ever met. She wanted Esme to know that she was her mother in every sense of the word that mattered.

But, as the ropes burned her skin, she came to the realization that she would never get to say these things. So, with every ounce of vampire power in her body, she sent out one message to the only one close enough to hear it.

_Goodbye, Damon._

And even though she wasn't sure if they were a part of the message she sent him or just her own thoughts, three words stood out prominently in her mind.

_I love you._

_**Damon and Katherine**_

"Why did you find me, Katherine?" Damon asked, clenching his jaw. Not because she'd tracked him down, but because even after she had not been in that tomb, there was still a stupid part of him that melted when he saw her.

It was the tiny part of him that had loved her for so long. And now, even after the time of corsets and petticoats so long gone, she still had that predatory, feminine grace.

She looked unbelievably striking in a floor length strapless dress that was a blood red that matched her eyes. It was slit to the hip and had what Damon was pretty sure was called a sweetheart neckline.

She was even more beautiful than he remembered, but he didn't have the helpless love for her that he'd had in 1864 and all of the years until he'd opened that tomb.

"Damon, I'm hurt. Why can't it just be me missing you? Don't you remember, Damon? We were so… close." She said in a seductive purr. Before he could say a word, she had him on his back on the bed, kissing him deeply. He withdrew, but she curled her fingers around his wrists, pinning him down. Then she kissed him again, and the old passion flared, with Damon's resistance fanning the flames. It was a blood deep instinct that made him return the passionate kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Because for a moment, it almost felt like 1864 again, and they were in love, and nothing would ever come between them.

"Damon, I found you because I love you. I always have, my love." She said, caressing his face. And looking into her eyes, Damon saw an honesty that shredded his resistance to pieces. Alice would be fine. Stefan and Elena would be happy. He had his Katherine.

"Why did you wait?" He asked, but in a voice without accusation, only curiosity.

"Because I had to know that all those things I taught you weren't for nothing. That you would survive. Now Elena, she interfered slightly, but she conveniently left town with Stefan. And as for that Alice girl…" Her voice trailed off as she slid her hand down his neck, fingers curling around his collar.

The word "Alice" was like cold water on his face. He recoiled and looked up at her, knowing that there was fear in his eyes. Fear for Alice.

"What did you do to Alice?" He asked, venom in his voice.

"Oh, I hit a sore spot, did I?" Katherine said with a laugh, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt.

Coming to his senses, he shoved her off and was on his feet in a blur of movement that only a vampire could manage.

"I received a phone call from a friend of mine that was intrigued by her powers. So I arranged for her to meet with him tonight, and also I wanted to meet with you, of course." She said walking around behind him and putting her arms around his neck from behind.

"Where is she?" He snarled, knocking Katherine off.

She sighed and got up, her eyes flashing angrily. She sat down on a vanity stool and met his eyes in the mirror.

"Why do you worry about her so much? You act as if you love her."

"I do love her." He shocked both Katherine and himself by saying. The realization had hit him with a force that made him feel dizzy. He really did love Alice.

"Just as you love _me_." She retorted, a possessive edge creeping into her voice.

Suddenly he could hear Alice's voice in his head, making the room spin as he realized that she had come to terms with the fact she was never going to see him again. He could sense that much in her words.

_Goodbye, Damon. I love you._

No, he wouldn't allow it. He would protect her no matter what. He only wished she could her hear the thought that he tried desperately to send back to her.

_I love you, too, Alice. Don't you dare give up on me._

He then saw the open cell phone in Katherine's hand, and she turned to him with an evil smile on her face.

"If I say the word, Alice Cullen dies."

"_Keep holding on, cause' you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through. Just stay strong, cause' you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you."_

~Avril Lavigne

**Author's Note-**

Okay, so thank everyone for the reviews! I have really appreciated them. And also, thanks to drodgers89 for reading and giving advice when I need it.

BTW, the end quote of this chapter is directed towards Alice. And the end quote of the previous chapter is Damon directed towards Katherine, because she didn't bother to find him for over a century and a half.

I will get chapter 15 up as soon as I can J


	16. Chapter 15 You Sound So Alone

If she could have, Alice probably would have cried when she heard Damon's response.

_I love you, too. Don't you dare give up on me._

Her body was too weak to send him the message saying that it was too late, that it was over.

But even as every ounce of fight left her body, those four words echoed in her head and were the last thought she had before she fell unconscious.

_I love you, too._

_**Damon and Katherine**_

"Don't, Katherine. Please. Please just don't hurt her." He said, not all that surprised to find himself pleading.

"You're _begging_ for her? That's pathetic, Damon." She snarled, her finger still poised over the keypad of the phone, ready to make the call that would end Alice's life.

"I will do anything. Just please, Katherine…" His voice trailed off as he desperately tried to come up with a plan.

Katherine again began raving about how pathetic he sounded, and he saw his opportunity. He lunged forward and curled both hands around her wrist, forcing the phone to drop to the floor.

Katherine's face transformed and she bared her fangs at him. She tried to throw him off, but he wouldn't risk Alice's safety. He threw her across the room, putting all of his weight behind it. He understood the whole men aren't supposed to hit women thing, but this was a special situation.

She cried out and doubled over as she was flung into a bedpost.

"Damon…" She whimpered, looking down at the splintered piece of wood that had been pushed through her chest. He'd staked her. _Oh God, I've killed Katherine…_ His mental voice cried while he stood there in shock.

"Please help me…" She whispered, her voice weak.

In a blur, he was at her side and pulling the deadly wood out of her body. But it was too late, and he knew it.

"I love you… I always have. I'm sorry." She choked with her dying breath.

"I love too, Katherine. I never stopped." He whispered, wishing he had the human ability to cry as Katherine Pierce, his first love, the woman who had made him a vampire, and the reason he'd kept fighting for over a century and a half, died in his arms.

He caressed her face, then made a choked noise that resembled crying only without the tears.

But he forced himself to pick her up in his arms and lay her on the bed.

"I'm sorry." He whispered before grabbing the cell phone, sliding it into his pocket and leaving the room. He slid out the door and ran straight into one of the guards that were all over the house. On his way out of the room, he'd grabbed the stake he'd pulled out of Katherine. He now used it to stake the guard that was holding up a taser that smelled strongly of vervain. Even though the man was human, a stake to the heart would still kill him.

He grabbed both the taser and the gun on the man's hip before taking off down the hall and running out the door, doing it all in a blur of movement that even vampire eyes would have to strain to see.

Then, he began tracking Alice.

_**Alice**_

Alice woke up laying in the back seat of the same car she'd started out in.

Then she heard Damon's voice, loud and clear in her head, almost making her yelp.

_Alice, listen to me, I need you to hold on tight. Okay?_

She blinked a few times before nodding, even though he couldn't see her. She tried to send him an affirmative, but she was too weak. But apparently, he got the general confirmation, because right then, she heard a very loud crash. She sat bolt upright and saw that he'd jumped onto the hood of the car, causing the driver to veer and go spinning. There was no other traffic, so the only thing that happened was the car flipping a few times. She had a death grip on the handhold above the door and still did even when the car finally went still.

"Alice? You okay in there?" Came Damon's voice from the other side of the car. Not just his mental voice, but his real voice. He was there. Alice wanted to smile and dance and sing, but she wasn't out of danger yet. There was a splintered piece of wood that had come off of a tree that had broken the window pressing against her chest, and if she moved an inch, it would pierce her heart.

"Yes, but don't move this car an inch. I have a piece of wood at my chest and if I move, I will get staked." She said, voice trembling not with fear but with simple relief to have Damon back.

_**Damon**_

No. Hell no. He would _not_ let her be killed. Not like Katherine was. Not at all, for that matter. He'd used the vervain taser on the vampire driver, and he would be out for the next several hours. He had broken out the entire front window when he'd jumped on the hood, and it had given him a clear shot.

Now the van was turned upside down, and the only thing keeping that splintered piece of wood from driving its way into Alice's chest was the fact she was wearing her seatbelt.

"Alice, I need you to listen to me _very_ carefully. I want you to reach down with one hand, the one that you _aren't_ grasping the handhold with, and break off the end of that stake. Do _not_ shift your weight, whatever you do. Be _careful_." He emphasized every few words, making sure she understood.

She nodded and did just what he said, and in a moment, she had six inches of the stake broken off. There was no longer a threat, and Damon busted out the window of the door on the other side of the car from Alice. He slid in and unbuckled her seatbelt, catching her as she fell. He pulled her out, cradling her easily. He wanted to throw his arms in the air and announce to the world that she was alive and in one piece, but instead he just smoothed a stray lock of her from her face and began carrying her away from the car after he staked the driver with the piece of wood she'd broken off.

"Damon, oh my god, you're really here…" Her voice trailed off as she threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder.

_**At a Hotel In California**_

"You need rest, Alice. I'm not going anywhere." He promised as he lay her down on the bed and pulled off her shoes.

"You should sleep, too." She said, sliding over. He took one look at her and knew she wouldn't sleep until he did.

He sighed and kicked off his shoes, sliding in next to her and closing his eyes.

"Happy?" He asked, a touch of playful sarcasm in his voice.

"Ecstatic." She said with the same tone of voice. He laughed and put an arm around her waist as she laid her head on his chest. They were both asleep in less than a minute.

The next morning, while Alice was in the shower, Damon's phone rang. He walked over to it and look at the caller ID. He didn't recognize the number.

He picked it up and hit the talk button.

"Damon's phone, how may I help you?"

There was a gasp from the other end, like the caller couldn't believe he'd actually picked up the phone.

"God, it is so good to hear your voice. This is Elena."

"_Suddenly my cell phone's blowing up with your ring tone. I hesitate but answer it anyway, you sound so alone."_

~Miley Cyrus


	17. Chapter 16 Now That We've Come This Far

***Okay, so this is a pretty short chapter, but I wanted to finish it today and didn't feel like typing anymore. Chapter 17 will be longer :-)***

Damon almost dropped the phone.

"Elena… where are you right now?" He asked, knuckles white on his cell phone.

"On my way to your room."

This time he actually _did _drop the phone, which he picked back up in a flash. He heard dial tone and felt only a split second of confusion before there was a knock on the door. If he was human, he felt sure his heart would have stopped beating.

He opened it and for a minute, him and Elena just stared at each other. Then, Elena's face broke out into a smile and she threw her arms around him, almost knocking him flat.

Alice had slipped by while he'd been on the phone and said she was going hunting, and he'd been in too much shock of hearing Elena's voice to tell her she shouldn't be going out alone. So him and Elena were totally alone in their reunion.

Then, as she pulled back, Elena did something that shocked him.

She kissed him. With her arms still locked around his neck, she kissed him passionately. And, momentarily forgetting about Alice, he kissed her back, putting one hand in her hair and the other around her waist. He thought about all the times he'd thought about kissing her this way, and he wondered if she'd thought about kissing him. From the way she was moving her mouth against his with a hunger and need that made him want to do very… bad things, he assumed she had. He slid his hands under her and brought her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He could tell that she was, for the moment, forgetting about Stefan, just as he was briefly forgetting about Alice.

"Damon…" She said his name like a sigh as she sunk her nails into his neck. They lost track of time as they kissed, and when they came back to reality, she was sprawled out on the couch underneath him. She had her palms against his bare chest - his shirt had gotten unbuttoned at some point, not that he was sure when - and he had his hands under the back of her shirt against her back.

"Damon, I have to tell you something." She gasped, completely out of breath. He nodded and absently began running his hands up and down her back, feeling her smooth skin underneath his fingers.

She pushed into a sitting position, and looking down, popped something out of her eyes. He looked down at the two contact lenses in her hands with confusion.

Then she looked up, meeting his eyes with eyes that were a liquid gold color than only a vampire could posses.

_**Alice**_

Alice ran through the woods, loving the feel of the air rushing all around her. She'd already fed and was now just in the woods simply because she wanted to be.

She didn't know how far she'd gone from the woods behind the hotel, which was where she'd started from. She only knew that she could find her way back whenever she was ready to.

Then she heard rustling.

And not the rustling of leaves, but the sound a jacket makes when it brushes against something. It was a sound only vampire hearing could pick up.

Fear of the remaining members of the evil vampires looking for her shot through her, and she bolted back the way she came.

She heard the soft sound of vampire running behind her, but her physic senses could not detect any menace coming from the other vampire.

And, looking down, she couldn't slow herself down before crashing into the figure in front of her. She looked up at the other vampire and knew her eyes widened briefly before she regained composure. The blood exchanges with Damon had made her visions wonky, so just like with almost every other thing that had happened recently, she didn't see this coming. So she just smiled and greeted the vampire politely, with only a touch of the snark she'd picked up from Damon

"Hi, Stefan. Do you brood at people like that all the time or this a special occasion?"

"_Now that we're here, now that we've come this far, just hold on."_

~Chris Daughtry


	18. Chapter 17 You're My God Given Solace

"Stefan turned me. As you can tell." Elena said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Damon only nodded as he felt his world fall apart around him. Elena was Stefan's now. She always would be.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He said, hoping he imagined that his voice cracked.

"I am. This is why I left. I'd just been turned and I didn't want to lose control on the town. And thank you, Damon." She said, getting to her feet.

"For what?" He asked, getting to his feet with her.

"Finding me. It's good to know that you care." She said, putting her hand on the doorknob.

"I always will." He whispered, buttoning his shirt.

"Why did you run? Every time we found you, you'd already left." He said, his brow furrowing.

"I ran because when did see you again, I wasn't sure if I would be able to walk away from you again." She said, tightening her grip on the knob.

"And can you?" He asked, walking up behind her.

Then, as she twisted the knob, she said something in such a sure tone that it shattered him. It was worse than killing Katherine. It was worse than thinking Katherine was dead in the first place. But oddly, not as bad as thing Alice would die.

But that didn't make it any easier when she nodded and said, "Yes."

Then she disappeared.

_**Alice**_

"Stefan, wait!" Alice called desperately as he disappeared. He'd heard a voice calling to him and taken off towards the voice. And Alice knew that voice. It was Elena's.

She called out again, but he was already long gone. In a blur, Alice was moving through the woods, trying to get back to Damon. When she finally got to him, he was sitting on the couch, staring at the wall. He looked… shattered. She realized that this was what she must have looked like when Jasper had died.

"I-I saw Stefan." She stuttered, feeling her heart break for him.

"And I saw Elena." He said as Alice came to sit next to him.

"She is a vampire now. Stefan's vampire. She came to find me here at the hotel to see if she had the strength to walk away again. She did, as you can see." He said, motioning to the room that was empty of anyone besides him and Alice.

"Then she is about the stupidest girl in the entire world." Alice said in complete honesty. Damon's lip quirked, but his eyes still held the shadows that were almost visibly wrapped around him.

"You know something, Alice? It hurt worse than when I first lost Katherine in 1864. And it hurt worse than when I killed Katherine just yesterday. I thought I could never feel more pain than I had when I thought you would die." He turned to her, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked shocked at the fact he'd killed Katherine.

"I was right." He said simply, shocking Alice all over again. Their eyes met and something… happened. All of the emotions that had been bottled up came rushing to the surface. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. She kissed him back, and they found themselves kissing very passionately and very intensely. A moment later, he had her pinned on her back, kissing her even more fiercely than he'd kissed Elena.

"I love you, Alice Cullen." He said against her mouth. He knew that she had heard it when he'd mentally answered her, but he wanted to say it to her directly.

"I love you, too." She said, putting her hand on the back of his neck and pulling down to her. They kissed that way for a very long time. Alice reached up and began undoing the buttons of his shirt. She pushed it off his shoulders and he pulled her shirt over her head.

In moments, their clothes were in a pile on the floor and he had her on the bed, kissing her passionately.

He didn't have to ask if she was sure. He could feel it. He knew that she wanted this just as much as he did.

And, following what everything in him was telling him to do, he made love to her.

_**Damon**_

Hours later, he was watching her sleep. She was curled up against his side, resting her head on his chest. She stirred slightly and looked up at him through the shock of messy, dark hair that was sticking up even more than usual. Damon found it beautiful. Then, as he was thinking of ways to describe her, a quote he'd heard on some crime show popped in to his head. He thought hard until the name of the show finally surfaced in his mind.

"Alice, have you ever seen an episode of that crime show _Criminal Minds_ called Mayhem?" He asked, making her smile radiantly. He could have watched her smile like that all day.

"Yes, why?" She said, propping herself up on one elbow.

"Because you're my God Given Solace." He said, kissing her again.

And it was true, he thought to himself. After Elena had broken him, she'd pulled him back together. When he'd needed to see her smiling, she'd done just that. When he needed _anything_, she was always there.

She was, and always would be, his God Given Solace.

"_I'll tell you what you are to me. You're my God Given Solace. I want you to promise me one thing - Whatever happens, don't you ever stop talking to me."_

~Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds

**Author's Note:**

**So, I don't know how many of my readers actually watch Criminal Minds, but my sister is obsessed with it and at this point in the sotry, the quote fit. So if you do watch Criminal Minds, check out some stories by drodgers89. Also, thanks to everyone who's been reviewing!**


	19. Chapter 18 Look So Good I Might Die

Damon pulled up in front of the Cullen house and shot around the car to open Alice's door. He'd decided to come live in Forks, because him living in Mystic Falls would make their relationship seriously inconvenient.

"Damon?" Alice started as she got out of the car.

"Yes?" He asked, turning to face her.

"I would like for you to meet my family." She said, shocking him. He'd never been through the whole "meet the family" phase in his life. He was a _vampire_ for God's sake!

"Okay, sure. But… why?" He asked curiously. He was sure that there was some human reason that guys met the girl's family, he just didn't know what it was.

"Because you should get to know them. I care about them a lot. Besides, my brother, Edward, is a telepath and will want to meet you as soon as he sees you in my mind." She said, dragging him up the stairs to the front door.

"Fine." He sighed, holding back an amused smile. She was so adorable when she was nervous.

"Edward and Company!" She called out as soon she came in the house with him in tow.

Her family began coming in, and Damon realized that mental images didn't serve. Because like him, they were all inhumanly beautiful.

"Everyone, this is Damon. He is a very good friend of mine." She said, her hand tightening around his.

"Well, Damon, it is very nice to meet you." Esme said, stepping forward.

"Thank you, Miss Cullen." He said, the formal manners he'd had forced on him in 1864 rearing their all too polite head.

Esme laughed and looked at Alice like "well isn't he adorable?"

"Please, call me Esme. This is my husband Carlisle, by the way." She introduced them and they shook hands, giving each other polite smiles and nods. Damon was introduced to everyone, and Edward came last.

"Ah, the brooding brother. I knew there had to be one out of all of you." Damon said, instantly reminded of Stefan, making Edward the Broody's eyebrows raise.

"Sorry, you just remind me of a relative of mine." He said, flashing a smile.

"Right." Edward said, looking at Damon as if he could go through him. _Oh! He's the telepath! How could I have forgotten? _Damon thought to himself, realizing he'd been thinking very affectionately of Alice. He made sure the wall around the images of him killing Jasper were nice and secure before reaching out and shaking Edward's hand.

"You know what? We should through Alice a welcome back party!" Said Emmet, the bear like brother that seemed to be Edward's total opposite. Seeing his grin, Emmet raised his hand and high fived Damon, who immediately began thinking up plans for the hottest party of the century. Him and Emmet began discussing how fast they could throw a party, and settled on taking two hours to take care of everything that needed to be done. At vampire speed, it would be easy.

Rosalie, a sister of Alice's, looked Damon up and down appreciatively before smiling and saying,

"Welcome to the family, Damon."

And, for the first time in over a century, Damon felt like he belonged.

_**Two Hours Later**_

Damon's fingers were over Alice's eyes as he walked her downstairs to her welcome back party that he and Emmet had planned. He pulled his hand from her eyes when they came off the bottom step.

"Oh my god, you guys. This is incredible!" She said, smiling and looking around at her living room, which had been cleared of most of the furniture and turned into their own personal dance club. There was dark purple, blue, red, green, and gold lights pointing down from the ceiling, casting an ethereal, unique light on the room. The stereo was on and playing "For Your Entertainment" by Adam Lambert, making Alice laugh hysterically.

Her family was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, and they smiled at the sight of her so happy.

Alice actually talked Edward and Bella into dancing, and she fought laughter as Edward lifted Bella up so that her feet were resting on top of his. Damon and her were having a blast dancing and laughing to every song that played.

"I have a song request!" Damon yelled over the music.

"What is that?" Alice asked, also talking over the sound.

"Enjoy the Silence!"

Alice laughed and turned it on, knowing he would find himself a table or something to dance on like he had at the restaurant.

He got on the table, but didn't start dancing right away.

"Hey, male Cullens!" He said, looking around at them. They turned to look at him, their faces curious.

"I'm going to teach you to dance my way!" He said, meeting Alice's eyes and smiling knowingly.

And, about a minute later, he was teaching Emmet, Edward, and Carlisle the dance he'd done those nights to the exact same song he was dancing to know.

"No, bring your arms _down_, not up." He instructed Edward, who had gotten up there with them after some talking into.

Esme, who was rather tipsy, cat called her husband as he swayed perfectly to the beat and Rosalie, who was totally hammered, was up there dancing right along with Emmet. Bella was biting her lip to keep from laughing as Edward began to perfect the moves of the dance along with the rest of his brothers and Carlisle.

Alice playfully threw a twenty at Damon, who tucked the bill in his waistband with a cocky, appreciative smile that gave Alice a little shiver.

At some point, some dude named Charlie Swan showed up, and damon compelled him into joining the party just because Alice seemed to like him. He later found out Charlie was Bella's dad. Two more hours later, they were all completely trashed and singing karaoke. Damon threw money at Alice as she, Esme, Rosalie, and Bella did a quartet to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." They actually did extremely well.

"Perform for me." Alice whispered in Damon's ear when her little quartet finished.

"You really shouldn't have said that." He replied with a grin.

And five minutes of collaborating later, he proved himself right. Because him, Emmet, Edward, Charlie, and Carlisle started doing a damn good karaoke rendition of "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake. Alice started laughing hysterically as the boys started stripping out of their shirts and turning the karaoke into a miniature strip tease. Bella buried her face in her hands as her father followed suit.

Damon, who was now clad in his black boxers, came over and gave Alice a long, deep kiss that was full of promise. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You know something, Damon? You're kind of amazing."

"Kind of? Looks like I'll have to prove a point again."

She could only laugh her head off as he began doing a karaoke version of "Everybody Loves Me" by One Republic.

"_Oh my, feels just like I don't try, look so good I might die. All I know is everybody loves me. Get down, swinging to my own sound. Flashes in my face, now. All I know is everybody loves me."_

~One Republic


	20. Chapter 19 Here Comes Goodbye

**Alice had no idea that vampires could have hangovers.**

**She turned over to see if Damon was awake, and sure enough, he was. And he was staring at her.**

"**Morning." He said, a cocky smile curling his lips.**

"**Hey there." She said, stretching.**

"**Hung-over much?" He asked with a smile.**

"_**Very**_** much." She groaned, getting out of bed and pulling on a robe. He suddenly had a flash of déjà vu as he remembered a conversation with that Caroline Forbes chick. **

"**Cocky much?" She'd asked him, giving him a flirty smile.**

"**Very much." Had been his reply, all in a very seductive tone.**

**But his very hung-over Alice looked nothing like that annoying blond bobble headed cheerleader. Pulling her robe close around her, she crawled back in bed beside him and curled up beside him.**

"**Alice! Are you awake?" Edward's voice came through her bedroom door just as she'd been getting ready to go back to sleep.**

"**Yes, I am. But if I wasn't, I would be now. God, you're such a brooding loudmouth." She said, glaring at the closed door. She heard him sigh, and took a small satisfaction at him being just as hung-over as she was.**

**She also saw Damon smile at the word "brooding," which was what he always used to describe Stefan.**

"**Alice, we need to talk. Alone. Now. **_**Right. Now**_**." He spat the last two words, making her and Damon look at each other with a shared look of WTF.**

"**Okay, easy there." She said, pulling on clothes and coming outside into the hallway.**

"**Roof. Porch. Anywhere **_**Damon**_** can't hear us." He growled, spitting the word "Damon" out of his mouth like it was venomous.**

"**Edward, anything you say to me you can say in front of-" He cut her off with a sharp glare that made her snap her jaws shut instantly. **

**In a flash of movement, they were in the woods, and the house was practically out of sight.**

"**How could you? Knowing what he's done? Alice, what the hell's wrong with you!" Edward's words came out in one big, angry blur, and he reached out and shook her, making her wince because of his strength.**

"**What are talking about?" She asked, shaking her head in confusion.**

"**Don't act like you don't know!" He yelled, clenching his jaw.**

"**Like I don't know **_**wha**_**t? Edward, you're not making any sense." She said, looking up at her brother, who's face was transforming in anger. Feeling her eyes widen, she stepped back. For the first time in her life, she was scared of him.**

"**How could you love him? Knowing about what he did to Bella? And how about knowing what he did to Jasper?" He whispered, his face relaxing and going from infuriated to sad. Very, very sad.**

"**I don't understand." She said, blinking. No. God, **_**please**_** no. He couldn't have killed Jasper. No. But Jasper had been killed by a vampire. Damon had shown up a few weeks later. Showing her a ring that kept him from sparkling. **_**Something shining on his hand…**_** the thought that she'd had the night of Jasper's death came back to her with a flash. Oh God. It was true.**

**She was already making awful choking noises that was passionate sobbing without the tears as Edward was speaking.**

"**Damon killed Jasper." **

**As he spoke, she kept making those choking sounds and collapsed to her knees. She felt her slightly mended heart shatter all over again. And it hurt worse than it had the first time.**

"_**Here comes goodbye, here comes the last time. Here comes the start of every sleepless night, the first of every tear I'm gonna cry. Here comes the pain, here comes me wishing things had never changed."**_

**~Rascal Flatts**


	21. Chapter 20 If We Stay Or Walk Away

**Author's Note: So, this is the conclusion to the story. It's not the best chapter I've ever written, but it's just the simple conclusion. I took a break from this to start my new fanfiction called Angel of Mercy, but I was having a touch of writer's block when I wrote this, so I hope it isn't too bad. Anyways, I hope you guys like the conclusion!**

Something was wrong.

Damon could feel it stirring in him as he walked out onto the front porch of the Cullen house. He could feel Alice falling to pieces, he knew it deep in the remainder of his immortal soul that her heart and being had shattered totally.

"Alice!" He called out as he walked into the woods, following her scent. He'd seen Edward on his way out of the house, and if looks could kill, Damon would be in a hundred billion microscopic pieces. The further he walked, the more he could feel her presence becoming closer. Just when he felt her practically right next to him, he heard her speak.

"Get. Away. From. Me." She spat out each word individually, her voice growing venom with every syllable. Her face fully transformed and she bared her lengthened, sharpened fangs at him. Why on earth was she looking like she was ready to rip his heart, albeit his un-beating one, out of his chest with her teeth? She looked… broken. Shattered. Irreparable.

He lifted his eyebrows at her questioningly and stepped forward, only to be sent backwards. She reached out and shoved him, sending him into a tree. He gasped out in pain as a tree branch skewered him threw the chest, avoiding his heart by what he assumed to be mere millimeters.

He looked at her in shock, but saw only a faint gleam of satisfaction shining in her eyes.

He saw a deep, fathomless hate that made his skin crawl. _Why is she acting this way? _He thought to himself as she snarled at him.

_Jasper_. The word slid into his mind and confirmed his worst fears. She'd found out about him killing Jasper.

"Alice…" His voice trailed off as she snarled again.

"You _killed_ him! You _lied_ to me!" She said in a voice that heightened with every syllable.

He had no idea what to say.

But he didn't have to, because there was a blur and Alice disappeared. And in her wake she left one question in his mind: How was he going to fix this?

**Alice**

Alice couldn't run away forever. She knew that. But how was she supposed to even look Damon in the eye? But the part that ripped her apart more than the lies, more than him killing Jasper to begin with, more than anything other part of it, was the fact that in spite of all of it, she still loved him. There was a tiny part of her that was almost imperceptible that still loved Damon. And that broke her heart more than anything else. She raced back to the house at vampire speed and arrived in her room to find a letter laying on her bed. It had her name on it and it was unmistakably Damon's handwriting.

_Alice,_

_I know you hate me. I know that you'll probably never forgive me. But please keep reading this, because there are some things I want you to know. I am a different person now, for one. The vampire that fed from Bella and staked the man you loved is gone. I am a different person entirely. Anyone who met me now would probably say "nope, that's definitely not Damon Salvatore." But I know that doesn't fix this. I don't if anything will. But Alice, I love you. As sappy and cliché' and chick-flicky as it sounds, I really do love you. And you saw this long before it happened. And I don't mean you finding out about Jasper, I mean us falling in love. You had a vision that day on your porch, when I was on your fingers as a bird. You saw us in love and I know it. You may have not known what you were seeing at the time, but I know that nothing could have shaken you so much. And as much as it is to ask, will you please come and tell me goodbye in person? I know you never want to see me again but please, Alice. You know where to find me._

_-Damon_

He was right. She did know where to find him. She tucked the letter in her pocket and walked out to the front porch, the setting of the vision she'd had. And there he was, sitting on the railing, looking up. He was holding his ring in his fingers and his skin was sparkling. Her breath was taken away, metaphorically speaking. He was so beautiful.

"You're right." She choked, folding her arms over her chest.

"About which part?"

"All of it." She confessed, walking forward.

He stood up and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"You still love me." He said simply. She opened her mouth to protest. To say something, anything to deny it. But it was true. And how could she deny such pure, honest truth?

"In spite of how much you hate me, you still love me. And the thing that you hate the most is the fact that even after I did what I did, you love me." He said, as if reading her mind. _Yes,_ she thought to herself, not realizing she'd said it out loud until a small smile curved his lips. He took her face in his hands and leaned forward, daring to brush her lips with his. He gave her the chance to pull away, to slap him, to scream at him. She didn't move.

Then he kissed her passionately, more passionately than he'd ever kissed her. And, against every warring emotion in her heart, against the part of her mind that screamed she was betraying Jasper, she kissed him back. They'd lost track of time as they'd kissed, so neither of them knew how much later it was when they were leaning against the porch railing, not saying a word. The sun was still out and still reflecting off of Damon's skin, making it sparkle like a gem held up to the light. She reached up and stroked his hair and he caught her eyes with his.

And as they stood there, the sun setting behind them, Alice couldn't help but wonder how it was possible. How after finding out that he'd killed Jasper and lied to her about it, that she still loved him. And she always would.

"_I know rocks turn to sand, and hearts can change hands. And you're not to blame, when the sky fills with rain. But if we stay or walk away, there's one thing that's true - I still love you."_

~Alexz Johnson


End file.
